STORY EXCERPT

Reese, however, wasn’t one to admit he made mistakes. He folded an arm under his head and kept his expression serene but firm. “I’m telling you to stay away from him.”

Her other eyebrow joined the first one. “Are you for real? You’re seriously lying there with a smirk on your face and ordering me around?

A smirk? He wasn’t smirking. He frowned, confused by her belligerence. “Charlie, calm down. Be smart. Be safe. Listen to me.”

Her eyes had grown bigger and her mouth had dropped open as he’d spoken, but he hadn’t told her anything different than before. So what was with the big reaction? She glared at him as though he’d told her to get on her hands and knees and mop the floor. Was it him? Or was she just overly dramatic?

“You know.”

Her whispered statement baffled him. Of course he knew that Dick was a dick.

“You know my real name.”

Shit. “What are you talking about?” Playing dumb wasn’t the right way to handle her, but he’d fallen back on it like he’d done every time his mother had caught him whacking Blane in the head.

She was up and out of the bed faster than he’d have thought possible for a human. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me you knew. You lied to me just to get into my pants, didn’t you?”

“Come on. You really didn’t believe anyone would buy the name Candy Cane, did you? Only porn stars and strippers have names like that.”

She started to pull on her T-shirt then held it out and gaped at the torn shirt. Uttering a sound that was somewhere between a grunt and a groan, she threw her shirt to the floor and snatched his. She tugged it on and crossed her arms. “You lied to me.”

He sat up, and the cover slipped off to expose his cock, already primed and ready for another go. He noticed her gaze drop to his cock then flinch upward to his eyes. A flash of desire crossed her face then was gone. He doubted she’d let him fuck her again.

“You lied first.”

Her eyebrows did a dive toward her nose. “What?”

One thing was for certain. His mate was even hotter when she was angry. “I said, you lied first. Calling yourself Candy Cane was a lie.”

He tried not to smirk now, but he wasn’t too disappointed when he did. She was amazing standing there in his shirt that hung between her pussy and her knees. “You lied first.”

She gaped at him, opening and closing her mouth then doing it all again like the singing fish his uncle had hanging on his living room wall.

“That’s not the same. You should’ve told me you knew who I was.”

He flung the cover off him and rounded the bed toward her. He stopped when she took a step back. “You’re right. I lied by omission, but yours was a flat-out lie.”

He could see the wheels spinning in her head as she hunted for a comeback, but she came up empty. “Take me home.”

He knew he shouldn’t, but he couldn’t resist playing with her a little more. Why not? He was already in the doghouse. “Back to Boston?”

“How much do you know about me?” She waved her hands in the air. “No. Don’t answer that. I wouldn’t know whether to trust what you say or not. I’ll just assume you’re lying whenever your mouth is moving.”

“That would be a big mistake.”

She shrieked at him, gathered up the torn remains of her clothes, and hurried toward the front door. He took his time tugging on his jeans, a shirt from the dresser, and his boots. Where could she go without a car and clad only in his shirt? Walking as though he had all the time in the world, he sauntered through the house and out the opened front door.

What he found wasn’t what he’d expected to find. Rupert stood in the middle of the yard between the house and the barn, gazing toward the road and scratching the stubble on his chin. Charlie’s clothes lay at his feet.

“Where the hell did she go?”

Rupert flinched at the tone in his voice. “I was taking Ripcord out for a ride when she came barreling out of the house, grabbed the reins, and told me to help her into the saddle. She told me to tell you she’d return your horse once you fixed her pickup and brought it to her.”

“You let her take Ripcord?”

Rupert started to smile but wiped the smile away at Reese’s glare. “Mr. Rawlins, I’m sorry. I didn’t think. When she came running out the door with nothing on but your shirt, my mind went kind of blank.”

He couldn’t blame the guy. Charlie doing what almost amounted to a Lady Godiva impression would’ve sent any red-blooded male’s head into a tailspin. “Which way did she go?”

Reese followed the direction Rupert pointed, down the road leading toward the rental home. She’d been mad as hell, but he’d never expected her to hop on a horse and hightail it home.

“Well, I’ll be damned.” Pivoting on his heel, he started back to the house.

“Mr. Rawlins, what are you going to do?”

Reese didn’t bother turning around to answer. “Call Dutch and tell him I need a rush job on a broken-down rental truck out on Bascom Road. Tell him to work his magic. I need that damn truck fixed before she winds up either killing my horse or breaking her neck.”

ADULT EXCERPT

Reese stepped out of his jeans as he gripped her T-shirt and tore it away. She cried out, the sound muffled by his mouth on hers. He tugged on her lower lip and drove his fingers under the waist of her jeans. She grabbed his hands, stopping him from tearing her jeans away as he’d done her shirt. They stared at each other, each letting their eyes and the emotions playing over their faces tell the other what they were thinking. She swallowed, and he ached to kiss her smooth skin as her throat moved up and down, to soothe her, to tell her everything would be all right. To tell her that she was his.

All at once, she moved, her hands going over the backs of his. Their hands fumbled together to rid her of her jeans. At last her zipper was down, and together they pushed her jeans to her ankles.

As though needing to acknowledge what was about to happen, she let her gaze slide first over his nude body then down her own. She bit her lower lip, teasing him with the slight gesture. But he’d been patient long enough. He devoured her mouth again.

Picking her up without breaking the kiss, he bit first her upper lip then her tempting bottom lip. He carried her to the bed and fell on top of her. He kept his weight from crushing her, but she didn’t seem to care as she dug her fingernails into his arms and pulled him closer.

He swirled his tongue inside her mouth, savoring her delicious flavors. She tasted like berries and sugar, tangy yet sweet. He caressed her cheek even as his kiss took her mouth roughly, and she kissed him back with equal fervor. Skimming his hands over her body, he sought to remember her by touch, by scent, and by the connection buzzing out of him then into her only to return with added energy.

They broke apart, each of them dragging in much-needed air, their gazes glued to each other. They stayed that way, his body on top of hers, their eyes locked, his heart pounding against her chest to feel the beat of her heart answering his.

In that one life-changing moment, she became his everything.

He couldn’t speak, couldn’t think past getting her bra and panties off. If he didn’t get rid of every thin piece of material separating them, he’d go crazy. The wolf inside growled, urging him to make her his. Her bra and panties were gone in a quick rip and tear. She lay underneath him, her breaths coming in gasps that matched his own.

For a moment, he feared she’d still tell him to get off her. Her eyes sparkled, and he wasn’t sure if the sparkle came from excitement or from tears just under the surface. Yet when she grabbed his hair as he’d done hers and yanked his mouth to hers, he knew she wanted him as much as he needed her, and he almost laughed with joy.

Cupping her breast, he nuzzled her neck, nipping at the soft flesh, the flesh he longed to sink his fangs into. His inner wolf howled at him again and again, daring him to claim her, pushing him to do what it wanted him to do. Somehow, unbelievably, he resisted the call of his animal’s wild lust.

She laid her hand on top of his, urging him to fondle her breast. He traveled his tongue along her shoulder then over the hollow of her neck before taking her pebbled nipple into his mouth. He pressed his tongue against her nipple and felt the rigid texture against his tongue. How could something so soft be so hard at the same time?

His cock pressed against her thigh, and she moved her leg back and forth, pushing against his hardness, wetting her skin with his pre-cum.

“Reese.”

He heard the ache, the plea as she said his name, and he pushed his hand lower. Moving between her legs, he glided his fingers over her smooth mons then dipped a finger between her folds. Her moist heat captured his finger, giving him a preview of how good his cock would feel inside her pussy. She was tight around even one finger, her walls closing around him and holding him. He couldn’t wait until his cock was inside her, the tight muscles ensnaring him in a love vise he’d never want to escape.

She kept her legs down but spread them farther apart. He slipped his finger in deeper and almost came as she shuddered with her first climax. She was so responsive, so eager. How much more responsive would she be once Blane joined them?

He could see it now. Blane would lie between her legs and lavish her clit with his hands and his tongue while Reese held his cock between her breasts and exploded, sending his cum over her chest. Blane could take her then as he was going to take her now. Watching his brother fuck their mate would be almost as good as fucking her himself.